Jewellery maze
by rox-silvery
Summary: After being shoot in the head by a unknown man, Elisa finds herself in a foreign world, alone and cold. As she struggles with her new life, she finds various crystals, leading her to the last thing she would've thought: love; caging her in a jewellery maze.
1. Chapter 1: Elisa Thompson

With her hands in the pockets, Elisa Thompson was slowly walking back home throught the small park near her house. She felt tired, as if her entire energy was leaking from her body. She rised her gaze to look at the sunset, then she sat on the nearest bench, getting her hands out of the pockets, putting them on her knees and staying with her head down for a couple of minutes.

She intentionally stayed late after her classes and almost didn't wanted to get home. She raised her eyes and looked straight at the handbag full of books and notes, images from her anatomy book flashing in front of her eyes. She rubbed her face with her palms. She went to med school at the request of her parents, with the intention of becoming a surgeon. But the frightening part was the fact that she didn't even like it. After twenty-one years of living with Mr. and Mrs. Thompson she started everything that had to do with doctors.

Elliot Thompson, her father, was one of the most known neurosurgeons in the country, and Miriam Thompson, her mother, was a pediatric med for nearly twenty-three years. So, growing up with a family of doctors she didn't quite had a choice, but following her parents footsteps. She swore under her breath and ran her fingers throught her long chocolate-brown hair.

She got up from the bench after her stomach started to growl, reminding her that she haven't ate all day. She wrinkled her nose and started to walk towards her house. The street was empty and she stopped in front of her door frowning. Something was not right.

She slowly pushed the front door, opening it. 'Strange', she thought knowing the her mother was working over the night, and her father will be at home after seven.

"Mom?" she asked in the hall. "Dad?"

She didn't received an answer. She entered te kitchen and saw a plate covered with a red towel on the table. Probably her mother forgot to close the door when she left. With the bag still hanging on her shoulder, Elisa entered the livingroom. And the last thing that she saw was the bald head of a man, a loud noise and pain, the emptyness surrounding her as she fell.


	2. Chapter 2

**Uh, hello. I don't even know where to start.  
>First of all, I am really sorry for not updating in such a long while even if I said that I will post on weekends. Homeworks and projects killing me, but on the bright side, there are only four months left and highschool will over. yay.<br>Secondly, for those who already before read Jewellery Maze: I've got a new idea and I have changed this chapter a bit (only the first half is the same) and totally replaced the next chapter, so this one story will be different from my first ****thoughts. If you are reading this for the first time, I really hope you like it.**

Rubbing her eyes, Elisa sat up and looked around her. Everything was covered by mist, and she could only see vague forms. She got up from the ground, looking at her bag still on her shoulder and tried to remember what happened. The image of the bald man pointing his gun at her forehead popped in her mind. She heard the noise made by the gun, so the bullet found its target without a doubt. She touched her forehead lightly, but she couldn't feel anything. She checked her pulse, but everything seemed to be alright.

"Hello! Someone?" her voice was echoing, but she didn't receive an answer. "Anyone?!" she shouted again in a desperate attempt at being heard.

She walked aimlessly for a while, approaching the vague, foggy forms she could distinguish, but in the moment she would reach her hand out to touch them, they would disappear the way smoke was carried away by wind. She took a deep breath in and rand her fingers through her hair, a gesture she usually made when something was unclear.

Elisa looked around her again and the she saw it. A tall, dark form, that seemed to be a door standing out in the milky mist. She frowned, but with small steps she approached it. She narrowed her eyes when she saw something else in front of it. She covered her mouth with her palm when she saw her lifeless body splayed on the ground in front of what looked to be her living room door.

She kneel next to the body, tears running down her cheeks. There was a small hole in center of her forehead left by the bullet, and her hair was stained by blood, her head sitting in a red puddle. Small sobs escaped her mouth when she raised her eyes to the door. There were small red drops on the white wood that started to slide down, letting red marks behind them.

She got to her feet again, grasping the bag's strap. She was trembling, her face red from crying. When she looked back down, her dead body wasn't there anymore and she remained unmoved for a few moments, confusion painted over her face.

Loosing her grasp a bit, Elisa looked behind the door, only to see that there wasn't anything. She walked around it and then came back in the front. Biting her lower lip, she opened slowly the door.

She quickly closed her eyes when the bright light that came trough the open door. She took a few steps into the light with her eyes closed and suddenly the ground beneath her feet disappeared and she fell into a hard sleep.

Elisa rose from the hard wooden bed with a growl and looked straight at the window. Between the thick curtains she could see the sun starting to rise. She sighted, sat on the bed and rubbed her eyes. It has been two years since she arrived in Lake Town. Two years since she has been shoot in the head.

She often wondered what really happened. All she could recall was a man and his gun, but then nothing besides a bright light.

She was found on a bridge in Lake Town by a fisherman, Percy, and then brought in the house of Bard and his children. But in the evening, the guards of the town knocked at Bard's door and brought her in the Master's presence, who was just a perverted old man acting like a filthy pig, caring only about his wealth. The young girl still remembered the odd stares she received regarding her clothing. She eventually became a maid in the Masters house, which was bigger than the rest of the buildings in the town, but she was hardly paid for her work and her room was in a dusty old attic. On the bright side, she was the first to find out when it was raining.

Fortunately, she had a few free days every now and then that she could spend however she saw fit. She got out of bed, and walked to an almost broken wardrobe in the corner of her small room and opened its doors. She grabbed her old jeans, the ones she wore in the day she was found and a shirt. She closed the wardrobe, and grabbed the knitted cardigan from the chair next to the wall and exited in the corridor.

It was dark in the small hallway, the only light coming from an almost burnt candle. She listened for any noises, praying that the Master wasn't awake so early in the morning. She was already walking on thin ice with him because she remained friends with Bard's family and being really close with Sigrid, his eldest daughter.

She took a few steps towards the stair, when voices got to her ears. She froze on the spot, her heartbeat increased.

"… that's what they've been saying, Sire. There was even talk of an election." The voice belonged to Alfrid, Masters deputy. Another scum that deserved to be hanged.

"An election? That's absurd! I won't stand for it." The second voice belonged to the Master of the town. Elisa sneaked down the stairs, avoiding the noisy ones, and peaked into the chamber that served as the Masters library and eating place. Both mans were standing with their backs to the wooden door.

"I don't think they will ask you, Sire." Alfrid spoke again, his voice hinting at the Master's biggest fear. Losing power over the small town.

The Master opened the doors to his balcony, and Elisa could hear his voice faintly cursing at the common folk. "Who would have the nerve to question my authority?" He was getting angrier by the second. "Who would dare? Who…?" He stopped suddenly, realization hitting him. "Bard." He growled after a few moments.

Elisa's eyes widened at the mention of Bard's name. In the two yeas she stayed there, Bard became something close to the brother she never had. And she loved spending evening at his place, listening to Tilda's blabbering, talking to Bard and Sigrid, and telling Bain about her former home. She almost gagged when she heard Alfrid saying something about ram and goat bollocks for breakfast.

"In an ideal world, Sire, we would arrest him. But Bard has the favor of the people. They see him as a leader." _Something you'll never be_, thought the girl listening to Alfrid's words. "Someone they can truly admire. Modest. Intelligent. Handsome. Athletic."

"Yes, he's clearly modeling himself on me. That's no crime. I wonder… I wonder if some ancient law might exist that forbids bargemen from asking questions? Do you think this section might exist?"

"Almost certainly, Sire. I'll write one immediately."

Alfrid turned his back, walking towards a small desk at the back of the room, while the Master straightened his back.

"You picked the wrong man to tangle with, Master Bard."

Frowning, Elisa quietly walked away from the door, and slowly made her way out from the house. The air was smelling like fish, and people were walking and running around minding their own busyness. It was sad to know that there was gold in the Masters house that could help a lot of the poor people living in the town, but he wouldn't even hear of sharing his riches with his people.

She found herself thinking about Alfrid words on arresting Bard while walking towards the market. They saw him as a threat and she knew they would do anything in their power to get rid of him. She had to at least warn him.

"Elisa!" she turned on her heels only to see Bain walking towards her, his cheeks red.

She smiled and waited for him. "How come I find you here instead of your sister?" she asked hugging him. The boy returned the hug, and then turned around to see if anyone was watching.

"Da left this morning to bring the barrels that would come down from Mirkwood. He hasn't returned yet, but when I looked out the window earlier, there were people watching our house, and guards asked about him. Sigrid is worried."

Elisa frowned. The Master and that rat were surely working fast.

"And what are you doing here?"

"I was going to the gates to see if he had returned and I ran into Percy. He was moving barrels full of fish out of the barge and he told me that Da went towards the market with a group of dwarves."

"_Dwarves?!_"

Bain shushed her and looked around one more time, then nodded.

"Let's find your father."

They walked around the market for a little while, but Bard was nowhere to be found. They saw a few guards walking through the small alleys and Bain sighed. "Maybe he went home."

"No." said Elisa pointed a little to their left. Following her hand, Bain's eyes found his father's dark hair. He was talking to someone.

"Da!" shouted the boy and grabbing Elisa's hand, started to run towards him. Bard's head turned in their direction. Getting closer, Elisa could see who he was talking to. A group of man, shorter with at least a head than her. She was told about different races living across Middle-earth but she never saw another person from another race. She stared at them for a few moments.

"Our house is being watched." Bard lifted his eyes to look into her black ones. She nodded.

"I have to tell with something. Quite important."

"Not here. Buy something to make a stew and come to our house." He handed her a few coins and then turned his head to the dwarves. "Follow me."

She winked at Bain, and looked again at the dwarves. Their clothes were wet and hair damp. Her eyes met a pair of dark eyes for a split second, but she immediately turned away. She felt the dark gaze following her as she left.

She wandered between the rows for a few minutes before she bought some vegetables. She made her way to Bard's house quickly and she knocked three times at the door. Down, in a small boat sat two man wearing some black robes and pretending to be fishing. She smiled sweetly at them and then waved when she opened the door.


	3. Chapter 3

"Elisa!" shouted little Tilda when the girl closed quickly the door behind her. Elisa put the vegetables on the small table next to the wall and picked up the little girl spinning her and kissing her cheek. Tilda giggled and hugged her tightly.

Looking over Tilda's shoulder, she saw the dwarves looking at some strange tools spread on the larger table in the middle of the room. One of them was looking disgusted at the pickaxe he was holding. He throw it back and growled something to Bard.

"Thorin…" said and elder looking one, grabbing the one called Thorin by his forearm.

Putting Tilda back on the floor, she looked at the little girl and said "Take this to your sister. I have something to talk with Da. I'll join you after." Tilda nodded still smiling, and left. Making her way towards Bard, between the dwarves.

"Bard, we need to talk. Right now. It can't wait." Bard's face grew even more serious if that was possible.

"What is it?"

Elisa looked straight at him, tilting her head slightly towards the dwarves. "The don't care of such thing."

The girl sighed. "They want you arrested. The Master and Alfrid. I've accidentally heard them this morning. They think you want their power over the city."

"That's just absurd." Snorted Bain trying not to laugh.

"I'm serious, you donkey." She said slapping his arm and glaring at him until he was quiet. "You need to be more careful. They would do anything."

Bard just nodded and covered the tools on the table, throwing them aside. The company was sitting how close to the fire they could so they could dry. The smell of stew was in the air and Elisa heard a stomach growl and she remembered she hasn't eaten yet. Bard seemed to be lost in thoughts, Bain was sitting on a chair at the table and Tilda was staring at every dwarf and their beards. Sigrid was sitting next to her on another chair, with her head on her shoulder. The only things that could be heard were the sounds of their breathing and the cracking of the firewood.

Suddenly Bard got to his feet, said something in Bain's ear and left with big steps. She and Sigrid watched him leave, but didn't say anything.

"What did he told you?" asked Tilda in a high voice, narrowing her eyes at her brother. Everybody turned their head towards them.

Sigrid stood from the chair and walked towards the boiling stew, smacking Tilda gently on the back of her head. "If he told him only, it means that it is not our business." Tilda pouted while rubbing the place her sister hit. "The food is ready." Announced and took the pot of the fire. She put it on the table and Elisa grabbed the few bowls bringing them to the middle of the room.

"Unfortunately, there are just a few bowls, so some of you must wait." There was no answer, but only nods. While Sigrid was pouring the food in the bowls, Elisa watched around the room. The dwarf with brown eyes that watched her leaving in the market was sitting on the small couch, next to him sitting a blonde one. They seemed to argue over something. The blonde one sighed and sat up telling something to Thorin. The dark haired one was looking at the floor, his face pale and sweaty. Elisa grabbed one of the bowls and went to him.

"Here." She said stretching her hand towards him, the bowl right under his nose.

"I'm not hungry." His voice was raspy and he didn't even lifted his eye from the floor.

"Look. I know you're not feeling well and a bowl of hot food always helps. So stop being stubborn."

He tilted his head, and his brown eyes found hers. The color reminded her of liquid chocolate. She found herself not being able to look away. His hands closed around hers on the bowl and Elisa's cheeks grew hotter. He had a strange effect on her, and she didn't even knew his name. She could hear Tilda's fast blabbering in the background, and the noise of the spoons hitting the bowls.

"… about the dragon." Hearing the word, she suddenly turned, her loose hair following the movement of her head and covering her left shoulder. Her hand slipped from under the dwarf's touch and she was brought back to reality.

"What dragon?" she knew this was absurd, but she thought the same when they told her about dwarves and elves, and here she was, surrounded by a bunch of them.

"The dragon that sleeps in the mountain!" said Tilda. "It is real! Da has told me about it! The dragon took the mountain a long time ago!" she continued when she saw the incredulous look on Elisa's face. "Tell her!" she said looking at a scary-looking dwarf that was sitting somehow close to her. She heard some grunts of approval and watched Bain's and Sigrid's faces. She almost expected for them to burst on laughing.

After another few seconds of silence, Elisa finally found her words.

"Wait… wait… wait. You lot mean to tell me that there is a living bloody dragon in the damn mountain?!" her face suddenly became pale and a shiver ran through her body . "Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded looking at Sigrid's calm face and folding her arms across her chest.

"You never asked." Her voice was normal feeling like this was a really common subject to talk about. "And it haven't been seen in years."

Elisa almost suppressed a laugh at the absurdity of the situation. "Maybe it is dead." She started laughing like a mad woman in the moment that the words left her mouth. She stopped after a few seconds when she realized that all eyes were on her. She coughed a few times, trying not to choke on her breath. "I… I have to leave." She gasped out and headed towards the door.

"But why?" Tilda whined. "It's not night yet!"

"Because I have to, sugar." She got on her knees and hugged her, watching Sigrid over the small shoulder. "I'm already walking on the edge of the knife with the Master. I don't want to give him reasons to kick me out." Sigrid smiled.

"But you can always come live with us!" said Tilda kissing her cheek.

"Of course, but for now I have my own place." She got to her feet, glancing for the last time in the direction of the dark-haired dwarf to see him eating. "I'll come again tomorrow. Bye, donkey!" she winked again at Bain and waved in the general direction of the dwarves.

She closed the door behind her, breathing in the cold air. The sun was almost setting and dark clouds crowded on the sky. She started walking towards the Master's house, looking at the mountain from time to time, almost expecting a huge, fire-breathing beast to come out of it. She laughed at her stupidity and mentally face-palmed herself. It was probably just a story. It couldn't be real.

She quietly opened the back door of the Master's house, and entered the kitchen. She took an apple from the basket on the table, and found herself walking towards her room, avoiding everyone. She just wanted to be alone. Her room's door opened with an annoying noise, almost echoing in the silence of the house.

Elisa stretched on the bed and ate the apple watching the ceiling. Maybe it won't rain. She closed her eyes and fell into a restless slumber, hunted by nightmares. At some point she started trashing around making the wood screech, and she jolted from the bed with a scream.

Her forehead was sweaty and her hair damp. The last moment of the nightmare repeating in her mind. _The dark-haired dwarf running in a dark hallway. _She frowned. _His clothes were stained with blood, and his back was burning, the smell of burnt skin filling the air. _She furiously rubbed her eyes with her fists, trying to get rid of the images when screams from the outside reached her ears. She threw away the thick blanket and ran to the window.

A large crowd was in the front of the house, yelling and talking loudly. She darted towards the stairs, running down the dark corridor, forgetting about her fear of darkness. She got outside from the front doors, and remained a few steps at the Masters back.

Watching from his side, she saw the company of dwarves pushed forward. Her eyes found automatically the dark-haired one. The look on his face was miserable and for the first time she saw the injury on the side of his right knee.

"This is no common criminal!" the voice of the scary-looking dwarf boomed, silencing everyone. "This is Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror. King under the Mountain!" his finger pointed at Thorin who took a few steps forward.

"We are the dwarves of Erebor." The people around him started to whisper. "We have come to reclaim our home land!" His deep voice was clear and suddenly he looked like a king of old. The Master looked over the crowd, open-mouthed and eye wide. "I remember this town in the great days of old. Fleets of boats stood harbored filled with silver and fine gems. This was no forsaken town on a lake. This was the center of all trade of the north."

The people in the crown started to talk again, approving Thorin and whispering amongst them again.

"I will see those days return. I will relight the great forges of the dwarves and send the wealth and riches flowing once more the halls of Erebor!"

Screams of joy filled the air, and the folk of the town started to cheer.

"Death!" Elisa's eyes snapped up to see Bard making his way towards the front, his fists clenched at his sides. "That is what you will bring upon us! Dragon-fire and ruin." Everyone was quiet again. "If you waken that beast it will destroy us all."

"You can listen to him, but I promise you this: if we succeed, we all will share the wealth of the mountain." Cheers started to rise again.

Bard took a few steps ahead, looking directly in Thorin's eyes. "You have no right! No right to enter into that mountain!" Thorin held his gaze.

"I have the only right." Turning his back on Bard, Thorin looked straight in the Master's eyes. "I speak now to the Master of the city. What do you say?"

The Master looked around at the people faces, while Elisa was looking again at the black-haired one, who was holding his hand over the injury, his face twisted with pain.

"I say…" the Master began, and her eyes turned to look at Bard. "Welcome, King under the Mountain!"

The crowd was cheering again, but the girl frowned, hearing his voice full of greed.

"You!" he yelled, turning to her. "Prepare the guest rooms!" she nodded slowly, and with one last glance at Bard's disappointed expression she went back inside.


End file.
